FALL 2002
Volume
Volume 11 Number
Number Two
Two
Published
Published by
by the
the Columbia
Columbia County
County Historical
Historical Society
Society
IN THIS ISSUE:
Memories of the Old H&B RR
PAGE 4
Albany Southern
Railroad Company
Station men, Kinderhook Station 1898
PAGE 5
The Depots: Large & Small
PAGE 7
Some Rails Were Private
PAGE 9
Railways Become Trailways
PAGE 10
Tales From Merwin
Locust Street Trestle, Chatham c1890
PAGE 11
News of the
Columbia County
Historical Society
PAGE 12
Society Announces
Reciprocal Privileges
PAGE 14
History Around the County
PAGE 16
Collections Highlights
PAGE 18
Columbia County
Historical Society
Events Calendar
PAGE 19
Chatham Station, 1914
Railroads of Columbia County PAGE 3
Columbia County Historical Society
A
ll of us at the Historical Society have heard
much praise and myriad positive comments
regarding this new venture into publishing,
Columbia County History & Heritage. Many
thanks go to all of our readers who took the
time to report back on our successful first issue. Bringing to
light the rich, colorful and distinctive inheritance of the
county has been a rewarding experience for the editors,
authors, staff, and Board. Editor Jim Eyre has risen to the
challenge of establishing a publication of quality and we are
most grateful for his talents.
I would also like to extend our thanks to Dale Flansburg
of Germantown for generously sharing his great depth of
knowledge on the railroads with our readers. Also, kudos go
to Henry Livingston for ably assisting in the search for facts.
For the past six years I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure
as a Board member. It has been a great honor to have served
as President for the last five years. To have been part of a
cohesive group dedicated to preserving the legacy of
Columbia County was both rewarding and fun.
I also have great esteem and admiration for Sharon Palmer,
our Executive Director, whose knowledge and gracious manner enables the Board, staff and volunteers of the Society to
function smoothly as a whole. I look forward to continuing as
a committee member, and I encourage our readers and others
to assist the Society by volunteering their talents and donating
their support.
Columbia County
HISTORY HERITAGE
&
COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Susan Gerwe Tripp
President
John B. Carroll
Marian Guerriero
Vice Presidents
Stephan M. Mandel
Secretary
Woodruff L.Tuttle
Treasurer
Sheldon Evans
Assistant Treasurer
www.cchsny.org
Arthur Baker
George N. Biggs, III
Albert Callan
Nancy Clark
Pamela Cohen
Henry N. Eyre, Jr.
John Hannam
Willis Hartshorn
Beth O’Connor
Richard Ryan
Samuel O.J. Spivy
Colin Stair
Harry van Dyke
David William Voorhees
STAFF
Sharon S. Palmer Executive Director
Helen M. McLallen Curator
Ruth Ellen Berninger Educator
COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORY & HERITAGE
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor
Henry N. Eyre, Jr.
“Jim”
Susan Gerwe Tripp
President
Board of Directors
Assistant Editors
Julia Philip
David William Voorhees
Editorial Committee
Arthur Baker, George N. Biggs, III
Albert S. Callan, Stephan M. Mandel
Our Mission
Design and Production
Ron Toelke
Ron Toelke Associates
he Columbia County Historical Society is a
private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to
the preservation and interpretation of the history
and culture of Columbia County for its residents and
visitors.
It is the Society’s goal to encourage understanding,
knowledge, and preservation of the county’s heritage
through the acquisition and conservation of historic
lands, buildings, objects and documents, and the sponsorship of research, publications, exhibitions, and educational programming. To help achieve its mission, the
Society owns, maintains, and interprets to the public
buildings and collections of historical significance, and
operates a museum that includes exhibition galleries
and an extensive research library.
T
Columbia County History & Heritage is published by
the Columbia County Historical Society and is mailed
to all members of record at the time of publication.
Copies may be obtained, as available, at $2.00 per
copy from the Society offices at the Columbia County
Museum, 5 Albany Avenue, Kinderhook, New York,
12106; 518-758-9265; www.cchsny.org
Hours: Monday,Wednesday, Friday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.,
Saturday 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
2
Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
Railroads of
Columbia
County
By Dale Flansburg,
edited by Jim Eyre
t was in 1807 that
Robert Fulton made
his first and famous
steamboat ride on the Clermont, up the Hudson from
New York City to Albany. By
1830, 86 steamers plied the
waters of Long Island Sound
and the Hudson River. The
City of Hudson, already
a burgeoning port, rapidly
experienced a further, if not
surging, growth as an interchange for swelling numbers
of travelers as well as increased movement of market
and industrial goods. One
result was an urgent need for
a better method to connect
with inland towns and cities.
The train propelled by a
steam engine was the answer.
Columbia County would soon
be crisscrossed by a labyrinth
of rails both standard gauge
and narrow gauge owned by
and operated under a confusing and often changing array
of corporate names.
As a general rule the standard gauge rails were used
for passenger and heavy
freight trains and the narrow
gauge rails for private railways, which were built to
connect facilities or deliver
loads over shorter distances.
This article will deal mainly
with the standard gauge railways which provided in its
time the best and most efficient transportation within
the county and eventually
connected to points far and
wide across state borders.
I
In 1837 Columbia County
entrepreneurs by the names
of Allen, Power, Reed,
Hallenbeck, Barnard and
steamboat Captain Judah
Paddock answered the call.
The first standard guage rails
traversed the county when
their Hudson and Berkshire
Railroad was completed, running from Hudson to
Chatham, New York. The
tracks were primitive affairs
comprised of flat bar iron on
wooden stringers on a bed so
uneven that one of the first
lady passengers was instructed to tie a seat cushion to her
hat for protection. It was soon
joined with the Western
Railroad which had just been
completed two months earlier running from Boston to
State Line.Tracks now formed
an unbroken route all the way
to Boston on a line later to be
called the Boston and Albany
Railroad.
The Chatham and Lebanon
Springs Railroad was chartered in 1851 and finished in
1852 and after many corpo-
rate changes that line was
extended to Bennington,
Vermont in l901. Because of
it’s many curves it was
known to local people as
“The Corkscrew Division.”
Also, in 1852 the New York
and Harlem Railroad reached
Chatham from New York City.
Later to become known as
the Harlem Division of the
New York Central Railroad it
provided service for passengers until 1972 and freight
service until 1976.
Columbia County was to
have a labyrinth of rails and
rail companies. Some were
long lived and others not so.
Financing had slowed the
way, but again, in 1852 track
crews working north from
New York City and south
from Albany connected in
Hudson forming the Hudson
River Railway.This is the same
track line that is today a major
component of Amtrak’s system.
In 1875 the Rhinebeck and
Connecticut Railroad was
built connecting to Hartford,
Connecticut, making station
Boston & Albany train at Claverack Station, about 1890
3
stops at such Columbia
County places as Elizaville,
Gallatinville, Ancram, Copake,
Boston
Corners
and
Silvernails.
Another railroad, the
Poughkeepsie and Eastern,
approached from the south
and connected with the
Rhinebeck and Connecticut
at Boston Corners, adding
service to the towns of
Ancram Lead Mines, Halstead
and Tanners.
In its Columbia County
heyday the railroad was the
“way to go.” Some passenger
systems were so reliable that
one could set a watch or a
clock by the “on time” arrival
of a commuter train at a local
station. One railway connected with another at well-managed central stations, some
of them elegantly designed
by nationally known architects. Several stations such
as those at Hudson and
Chatham had several different railroads sharing their
tracks and facilities.
The importance of the railroad was well illustrated in
pictures such as those on our
cover. Well-to-do farmers and
landowners felt it a mark of
distinction and prosperity to
show trains in printed portrayals of their properties.
Fortunes were made and
fortunes were spent, but the
railroad remained “King” for
over 100 years—until after
World War II when trucks
and planes replaced the
trains. Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
Memories of the Old H&B RR
By A.S. Callan, Jr.
hysical reminders of
the day when the old
Hudson and Berkshire
Railroad steamed its uncertain way from the river city of
Hudson through Chatham
and West Stockbridge are still
numerous. Chief among them
are the grass-grown grades
and fills that still vaguely
trace the course of the longabandoned line. And what is
believed to be the original
depot still stands in Chatham
Village on the south side of
Austerlitz Street.
It is said that the size of the
first engine could be estimated by the fact that the engineer could walk completely
around the boiler without
stepping to the ground in a
matter of seconds. As they
left the Chatham depot the
engines took water from a
tank house across the street,
which was supplied from a
well near the summit of
Austerlitz Street. The system
was connected by a lead pipe
which was later removed during the construction of Route
P
295. En route these woodburning engines made frequent stops to pick up fuel
from stacks supplied by contract with local farmers.
One tangible link to the
old rail line was in the possession of the Lant family of
and written on ordinary legal
paper. The one-page agreement, carefully scrolled by
pen, defined the route and
compensation for the land
acquisition. It was signed by
Mr. Rowe and George Rich for
the H&BRR.
The first trains would pick up
passengers, stopping almost
anyplace along the right-of-way
East Chatham for many years.
The late Judge Ray R. Lant had
among his papers the original
agreement between Garret
M. Rowe, an official of the railway, for a right-of-way across
the Rowe farm in East
Chatham. Judge Lant was the
great-great grandson of Mr.
Rowe, and the document outlined the route over what was
later the Lant farm.
Dorothy Lant Mackerer,
present day owner of the Lant
farm, stated regretfully that
the agreement “disappeared”
some years ago. She remembers it as dated July 25, 1835
Mrs. Mackerer recalls that
her father also had a second
document, a contractor’s
agreement, in which a Mr.
Gordon Pitcher would do the
excavation for a section of
the railroad.The price agreed
upon was 7 cents per cubic
yard for excavation of loose
rock, 18 cents for hardpan,
45 cents for hard rock and 8
cents for side drains. It was
dated September 5, 1835.
In an interview with the
Chatham Courier in 1938,
Judge Lant recalled an amusing incident relating to the
early railroad. “The Cady
A typical train of the early 1840s that would have been seen in Columbia County.
4
brothers were working in
the adjacent field when the
first H&BRR train chugged
through East Chatham, spewing smoke and ashes. All the
workers stopped their labors,
save one, who remarked in
effect that he ‘wan’t gonna
be so greenhorn as to gawp at
anythin like that’.”
Judge Lant also said, “The
first trains would pick up
passengers, stopping almost
anyplace along the right-ofway. Many times members of
the family would send a hired
man to Chatham to tell the
conductor to stop the train at
the farm to take passengers.”
In succeeding years, giant
Boston and Albany Railroad
steam engines hauled freight
and passengers over a portion
of the original right-of-way,
and today, when the dieselpowered locomotives speed
between Albany and Boston,
the train still travels over the
Rowe/Lant farm under that
agreement signed 167 years
ago. Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
Albany Southern
Railroad Company
A Trolley All Too Electric
By A.S. Callan, Jr.
t 12:15 on the morning of December 21,
1929, the last electric
car to run over the Eastern
Utilities Line moved northward from Hudson to Albany,
its air whistle shrieking in the
night air as it fled through the
darkness to car barns in
Renssselaer — and oblivion.
Thus was written on the
pages of transportation history the concluding chapter of
an era ushered in 98 years
ago by the Kinderhook and
Southern Steam Railroad. The
lessened demand for trolley
service and the increase in
motor vehicles spelled the
death knell for the historic
railroad which operated
under a myriad of names.
It was in 1891 that the
Kinderhook and Southern
Railroad sent small, puffing
locomotives with huge funnel-like smokestacks steaming along the tracks between
Hudson and Kinderhook,
pulling two rickety cars. The
engines stopped at frequent
intervals to take on water
placed in barrels along the
right-of-way while the engine
crew and passengers exchanged pleasantries and the
news of the day.
In 1900 the tracks were
extended through clover
fields to Niverville, North
Chatham, Nassau, East Schodack, Clinton Heights and
eventually Albany. The road
was electrified and the new
company took the name
“Albany and Southern.” Power
was furnished from overhead
wires in the cities of Hudson
A
and Albany, while a third rail
was utilized in open country.
It was shortly after the turn
one of the most picturesque
and beautiful sections of New
York State, “replete with his-
It was shortly after the turn of the century that
Electric Park at Kinderhook Lake became a
mecca for merry-making families
of the century that Electric
Park at Kinderhook Lake
became a mecca for merrymaking families. As a result,
the company was required to
install double tracks from
Albany to the Park with its
merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheel,
magic lanterns and thrilling
torical associations and interesting tradition” boasted the
railroad’s timetable in the
summer of 1910. Special rates
were made for excursions
and picnic parties, and any
church or civic organization
could rent a private car for
their visitation to the Col-
Trolley #22 and a group of park goers arriving at Electric Park.
The “doubleheaders,” two cars, were usually used on weekends.
“Shoot-the-Chutes” into placid
lake waters.
Again the name was
changed to the Albany
Southern Railroad Company
Third Rail System. “Fast and
Frequent Electric Service”
was advertised as the trolleys
made regular stops at such
forgotten places as Ogdens,
Kilmer’s, Finerty’s, Bests and
Braesides. The bright yellow
and orange cars ran through
umbia County countryside.
The Albany Southern also
reminded its riders to make
connections for Chatham and
the Boston and Albany
Railroad at the Hudson Upper
Station, or, if you rode all the
way to the Hudson lower
terminus, you could “step
right aboard the night boat
for a glorious trip to New
York City.”
Numerous hotels and
5
boarding houses dotted the
right-of-way. Here, city families could enjoy the fresh
country air at the Kingman
House in North Chatham
(family rates $8 a week),
the Point Hotel on Kinderhook Lake, the New Van in
Niverville, and the United
States Hotel in Valatie, which
featured “Electric lights, baths,
hot and cold water, livery
attached, $2 a day.”
Anyone who lived along
the Albany and Southern will
always recall the third rail.
Even before the railroad
became operational, word
spread up and down the line
that it would kill anything
that touched it.
The story is still told in
North Chatham about Al
Lewis, who built a grocery
store in back of the North
Chatham station. Mr. Lewis
had an arm chair on the store
porch, but every time he
went to sit down, there was
always the cat ahead of him.
One day, Lewis lost his temper when he sat on the cat
which promptly scratched
him. He grabbed the cat by
the tail, ran to the railroad,
and tried to force the flailing
animal onto the third rail.
When the smoke from the
struggle cleared, Lewis was
seen sitting in a mud puddle
“hair on end,” and the cat was
back in the chair.
And, in 1919, the now
defunct Nassau Fair announced that an “aeroplane”
would land on the fair
grounds. Hundreds climbed
over the nearby railroad fence
only to be knocked down
Columbia County Historical Society
when they made contact with
the third rail. It is said that one
old lady, dressed in black, went
flying all by herself one day
when she poked the charged
rail with her umbrella while
lunging toward the aircraft.
The lady, instantly airborne,
made a longer flight than the
aeroplane,which broke a landing gear on takeoff.
If anything was plagued by
the third rail, it was the dogs
that lived near the tracks.
Being dogs, and particularly
male dogs, they would
saunter up to the third railand calmly lift their hind leg.
Usually, it was their last act on
this earth, but there’s a story
of a Kinderhook dog that survived the leg lifting episode,
only to become so infuriated
by the shock that he bit the
third rail — a reaction he
never survived.
Some North Chathamites
www.cchsny.org
tremendous was the brilliance
that a Pittsfield, Mass. newspaper published a report the following day that “Persons
residing on the west side of
Mount Lebanon viewed a terrible electrical storm of great
intensity, lasting for hours and
moving slowly back and forth
up and down the Hudson
River Valley.”
The electric line flourished
during the pre-World War I
era. Passengers were many
and the rates were inexpensive. More than 500 miles of
travel could be purchased for
$6.50.Even a “corpse properly
encased” could make its last
ride in peace for $3. Children
under five rode free. In 1906,
a total of 395,461 passengers
were carried on the cars and
the line showed a profit of
$28,032.
After World War I, as families rode more and more in
recall a Mr. Hogle who
worked for years digging
graves for electrocuted dogs.
He often claimed that his
“best day” was the one on
which he buried five canines
that had answered nature’s
call at one time only to meet
a glorious Fourth of July like
departure from this sphere.
When the rain froze on the
third rail, the contact with the
wheels of the trolley would
cause flashes of light that
would light up the countryside. The electrical display
would always unsettle the
nerves of the Albany carousers making their way
home from a weekend of tippling at the Kinderhook Lake
Hotel. In December of 1900,
only two months after the
road opened, a sleet storm
blanketed the rails with ice
and great blue bolts of light
illuminated the winter sky. So
their Model T’s, the little railroad began to run into debt.
By 1927, the line’s officials
could see the end was near
and, in desperation, two
smaller passenger cars, which
could be operated by one
man were purchased. Despite
this and other moves to save
money the electric trolley
finally gasped its last 74 years
ago.
A number of Christmas
shoppers clambered aboard
the last car out of Hudson at
11 p.m.Also there were a few
persons who delighted in the
vagaries of the trolley and
wished to be “aboard” for the
last run of Train 33. At 1:34
a.m., after a 95-minute trip,
the car pulled into Albany, and
it was all over.
Only the dogs breathed a
sigh of relief. ELECTRIC PARK
Electric Park, an amusement park on the shores of Kinderhook
Lake, operated from 1901 to the late 1920s. It featured two
Ferris wheels; the one shown at left ran on electricity and cost
5 cents a ride. There was a roller coaster and a carousel, shown
below.The carousel was housed in the building to the right, and
the roller coaster was built out over the lake. The park fell into
decline after World War I, and the attractions were either sold off
or dismantled. The railroad station burned down in 1928.
The pictures and captions that illustrate
this article are taken from Kinderhook Lake
— Its Glorious Past, published by the
Kinderhook Lake Corporation, Niverville,
NY, third printing, 1995.
6
Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
The DEPOTS LARGE small
By A.S. Callan, Jr.
ailroad trains have
criss-crossed
Columbia County for
almost 170 years — chugging,
puffing, snorting, roaring over
valley and plain — carrying
passengers and freight to near
and distant urban centers.
Along the right-of-ways stations — or “depots” as they
were more frequently called
— were constructed, ranging
from simple structures to protect passengers from the elements, to handsome, gargantuan buildings designed by
nationally known architects.
Rural depots served as both
freight and passenger buildings, the agents handling
express company consignment and telegraph functions
as well as ticketing passengers. Some were well furnished, and others were spartan in their accommodations.
With the decline in rail passenger service in the years following World War II,the majority of the stations closed.
However, two of the stations,
those at Chatham and Hudson,
have been masterfully restored
and a third, at Stuyvesant, is
being rescued by the
Stuyvesant Railroad Station
Restoration Committee. The
Albany architectural firm of
Mesick, Cohen, Nelson, and
Baker has played a lead role
in preparing the plans and in
the overseeing of the rehabilitation of all three structures.
R
The Chatham
Union Station
For a brief time during World
War I as many as 90 trains a
day passed through Chatham
including runs on the New
York Central Harlem Division,
the Boston and Albany Railroad, the B&A extension from
Chatham to Hudson and
trains making connections to
the Rutland Railroad that ran
northward into Vermont.
1887, was designed by associates of H. H. Richardson in
his style, one of the century’s
most famous architects whose
other work included the design
of Albany City Hall, the New
York State Senate chambers
and Trinity Church in Boston.
example of early railroad architecture. “It was just a brick
shell,” Mr. Wilson recalls,
“when restoration began in
1989. The major problem
was dampness and moisture
from the swampy substructure
on which it was constructed.
Complete reconditioning of
the interior was required as
well as major work on the
exterior.”
Considered an architectural classic of a 19th century
structure operating in the
21st century, it serves today
as one of the busiest of
Amtrak’s passenger stops.
Some 20 passenger trains
stop there daily.
The Stuyvesant Station
Hudson Railroad Station, built in 1874, shown c1915 to 1920.
“It’s a beauty of a monumental building which has
lent itself perfectly to its new
use as a bank office,” Mr. Larry
Wilson, the architect said.
“With its large center space
and two bays, one used as an
express agency office and the
other in early days as a ladies’
waiting room, the structural
design proved perfect for
transformation of the interior
to its new use,” he stated.
“The roof on the 4,500
square foot structure was
about to collapse,” Wilson
disclosed, “and in restoring it
we found parts of an original
spectacular ceiling which we
saved. A major project
was the cleaning of the granite
and redstone exterior blocks
which had been cloaked with
soot over a number of years.”
The station, constructed in
The firm of Mesick, Cohen
Wilson and Baker received
the New York State Office of
Historic Preservation award
in 1999 for “Outstanding
Rehabilitation” on this project. “We believe that Mr.
Richardson would have been
pleased,” Mr.Wilson said.
The National Union Bank
of Kinderhook has also won
high praise for saving the
station from almost certain
doom by selecting it as a site
for a major branch operation.
Though the building had fallen empty and silent after rail
service ended in 1960, it is
now alive again as a “cornerstone” of Chatham’s busy
business district.
The Hudson Station
The venerable NYC&HRR
station at Hudson is a fine
7
The station was probably
built about 1900, according
to Virginia Martin, a member
of the restoration committee.
The previous frame structure
had burned in the fire of
1880, which destroyed many
buildings in the community.
“Today the little station,
which like Hudson’s and
Chatham’s is on the National
Historic Register, remains fairly
intact with a ticket window and
what is probably the original
woodwork.” Ms. Martin stated.
“The restoration committee has worked endlessly,”
said Ms. Martin, “to raise
funds to provide for the
restoration of the north wall
which had almost completely
fallen away following a chimney collapse.”
“We definitely want it selfsupporting” said Ms. Martin.
“The town owns the structure
after being awarded a
Continued on page 8
Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
“Depots…”continued from page 7
SILVERNAILS
Stuyvesant Station, c1915.
$211,000 federal grant in 1996
to cover part of the rehabilitation project,” she said.The committee has already replaced
the slate roof and painted the
restored roof canopy in a
shade of blue that was original
to the station.
One of the station’s most
historic moments came in
April 1865, when a train carrying the body of slain President
Abraham Lincoln stopped at
Stuyvesant to allow townspeople to pay their respects to
their martyred President.
And Some other
good old Depots
During its heyday, the Albany
Southern’s electric trolley
cars ran from Albany to
Hudson, making frequent
stops along the way. Structures which served this line at
Valatie, North Chatham and
Kinderhook are now in private hands. The present day
Niagara-Mohawk plant at
Hudson served as the Albany
Southern car barn for many
years, its outward appearance
little changed from yesteryear.
On the old Harlem Division
route from Chatham to Grand
Central Station in New York,
only two of its county stations
remain, one in Craryville, the
other at Copake Falls.
The two Rutland Railroad
stations, where years ago
students departed for their
classes at Chatham High
School,remain in Old Chatham
and Brainard.
The Rhinebeck and Connecticut (later Central New
England) depots at Elizaville,
Copake and Silvernails still
stand. In fact, when the New
Haven RR quit the old Central
New England in 1938, the
agent, Martin Wheeler bought
the building and lived there
until his death in 1950. Silvernails station
as it appears today,
shown above; the
water pump spout
used to fill steam
engines still stands,
about 250 yards
from the depot.
Shown below is “The Junction” at Silvernails joining Pine
Plains, Rhinecliff and Boston Corners, and depot agent
Martin Wheeler. He was agent for the Central New England
Railway for 45 years until it closed down in 1938. He lived
that the depot until his death in 1950.
A 4-6-2 Pacific engine, built in 1911 (Baldwin Locomotive Works)
arriving in Hudson, 1920s.
8
Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
Some Rails Were Private
By Dale Flansburg,
edited by Jim Eyre
he “rush to rails” was
quickly joined by
local Columbia County
industrialists as an expedient
and inexpensive method to
move large quantities of
goods from point to point.
Private railroads, both narrow
guage and standard guage
were fast to appear, and some
of the rails laid at the time are
still in use today.
To tap the promising ore
deposits on the Livingston
family properties at Mt. Tom,
Herman Livingston built a
small narrow guage line in
the early 1880’s. Called the
Oak Hill Iron Railway Co., it
ran from his early mine operations to the family’s Oak Hill
dock on the Hudson River.
The ore was then shipped
from there down river by
barge to the ocean at New
York City and then around
Cape Cod to Boston, Mass.
The ore, though easily
accessible, was of poor quality, resulting in brittle products and the operation was
soon closed. Livingston sold
the railroad and the southern
half of his land at Mt. Tom to
Henry Burden.
Sudsequently in 1883, a
more significant operation,
The Hudson River Ore and
Iron Company, was undertaken by Burden at another face
of Mt. Tom. Here too, a narrow guage system was built
but the right-of-way chosen
was more easily traversed and
the construction more substantial than the earlier venture. Trains of iron ore were
carried down to company
roasting kilns, located near
Burden’s docks on the
Hudson River. Partial processing there to eliminate much
of the waste enabled the ship-
T
ment of lighter ore by barge
to the Burden Iron Works at
Troy, NY for final processing.
Herman Livingston, eyeing
with some envy Burden’s success with his new “Bessemer”
process, built yet a third railroad and tram to his remianing northerly Mt. Tom holdings and began to work a
new mine, the Hudson River
Spathic Iron Ore Company.
But soon, with the discovery of new rich ore deposits
at the Mesabi mines on the
upper Michigan peninsula,
providing a much higher
quality iron product, both the
Burden and Livingston mines
were unable to compete and
were closed down soon after
1900.
Extensive clay brick operations north of Hudson, New
York saw yet another narrow
guage railway built. The Cary
Brick Company used a spur to
connect its clay pit to plant
operations at nearby Newton
Hook. Tracks passed over the
New York Central mainline to
reach the plant at the Hudson
River side of the railway.
Several standard guage
private rail ventures were
undertaken in or near
Hudson.The first was built in
the 1880’s and opened in
1889 by Fred Jones. Servicing
his New York Coral & Shell
Marble Company, it ran from
his vast quarry holdings at
Becraft Mountain down to
the river. Later, it was rebuilt
and expanded greatly by the
Universal Atlas Corporation, a
manufacturer of cement. An
impressive array of yard
tracks was added and rail
service became a major component of their plant operations, lasting well into the
20th century. In addition, as a
major user of coal, the cement operations provided the
New York Central with a
source of revenue for both
outbound cement products
and inbound coal.
A second standard guage
was installed by the Knickerbocker Cement Company,
which built its complex near
the Claverack Creek, and was
also in the Greenport section
of Hudson.
Rail shipment was a major
part of their plan and an early
spur was built to connect
with the B&A Hudson branch
from Chatham. The rail to
their quarry operations has
been gone for years, but
much of the yard trackage
(later used by the Lone Star
Corp.) remains in service
today, for hauling cars of grain
delivered by CSX crews to
Archer Daniels Midland Corporation.
In another 1880’s private
railway operation, the Copake
Iron Works constructed an
extensive standard guage
system around their facility in
the southeastern corner of
the county. It was served by
its own steam engine and
gained an “outside” connection in 1882 when the New
York & Harlem was built
nearby. However, like Burden’s works, the Copake Iron
Works closed soon after the
turn of the century, victim of
the richer deposits in the
Mesabi range, and its railway
operations disappeared Ore cars that carried iron ore from the mine to
be dumped into kilns below for partial processing at Burden’s Hudson River Ore & Iron Works
at Mt. Tom. Copy of sketch (artist unknown)
courtesy of Livingston History Dept.
9
Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
Railways Become Trailways
By Arthur Baker
n 1972 the last passenger
train completed its run, and
in 1976 the last freight train
completed its final delivery,
dramatically pronouncing the
end of the Penn Central
Railroad service on the Harlem
Division north of Dover Plains,
which service had been inaugurated 150 years earlier in
1852. Fortuitously, 25 years
later, the death of the railroad
led to the birth of the idea to
create the Harlem Valley Rail
Trail, a recreational biking/
walking trail using the old railroad right-of-way.
Rail trails are now a wellestablished concept with great
advantages for the communities that have developed them.
The benefits have included:
I
1. promoting the economic vitality and general welfare of the communities
served by them;
2. protection and conservation of open space, and
3. provision of increased
recreational resources with
the opportunity to exercise for health and enjoyment.
Creating a 45.5 mile rail
trail from Amenia in Dutchess
County north to Chatham in
Columbia County is a long
and arduous journey only to
be undertaken by the strong
of heart. Luckily such a group
of devoted stalwart souls
does exist and deserves our
lasting praise and thanks.
In 1986 the Harlem Valley
Rail to Trails Association
(HVRTA) was organized and in
the same year delivered a petition of more than 1,100 signatures requesting the purchase
of the 45.5 miles of right-ofway to Commissioner Orin
Lehman at the Office of Parks
Recreation and Historic
Preservation (OPRHP).
In 1989 the Dutchess County
Legislature purchased 20.38 miles
of right-of-way including 4.34
miles in Columbia County on
behalf of OPRHP. Dutchess
County leases its section and
will develop and maintain it.
Then Governor Cuomo announced the acquisition as
a part of the Greenway.
In 1994 OPRHP and
Dutchess County received an
ISTEA federal grant for
construction of a paved section
of trail from Amenia northward. In 1995 OPRHP with
the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC) applied and
obtained an ISTEA federal
grant to purchase the remainder of the right-of-way from
Copake Falls to Chatham. The
CLC undertook to raise the
20% matching funds needed
to supplement the ISTEA
grant and completed the task
by 1999.
The sticking point in moving the acquisition portion
of the project forward is the
need for OPRHP, Greenway
and the State Department of
Transportation (DOT) to agree
on the contract format. This
process recently received a
boost when in July the
Columbia County Board of
Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the development of the portion of the rail
bed from Copake Falls to
Chatham where current owners of portions of the right-ofway are willing sellers. The
rail bed is currently owned by
29 property owners. Mr. Dan
Haas, Chairman of HVRTA has
voiced concern that acquisition grants may be lost if purchase commitments are not
finalized by 2004.
To date, 12.1 miles of rail
trail have been paved and
completed and are in use,
mostly in Dutchess County.
Another 8 miles are promised
for construction by 2005,
completing the whole rail
trail section from Amenia to
Copake Falls.
10
It is a very exciting prospect to contemplate that,
hopefully in the not too distant future, we will have the
opportunity to walk, bicycle
or roller blade our way from
Chatham south to Amenia
while enjoying the spectacular scenic landscape.
Our thanks to HVRTA and
the CLC which have been the
main sources of information
for this article. If you wish to
join or contact either association, their addresses are provided below. Harlem Valley Rail Trail
Association, Inc.
PO Box 356
51 South Center Street,
Millerton, NY 12546,
518-789 9591,fax 518-789-4226
Email: [email protected]
Web site www.hvrt.org
Columbia Land
Conservancy, Inc.
PO Box 299
49 Main Street
Chatham, NY 12037
518-392-5252
Fax 518-392-3099
Email: [email protected].
Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
Tales from Merwin
By Nick Biggs
hat did Washington
Irving, President
Martin Van Buren
and Ichabod Crane have in
common? The answer is that
all were visitors to Merwin
Cottage that is just a few
miles southeast of Kinderhook. In fact, in front of the
cottage the New York State
Education Department has
placed a sign that recites:
W
Merwin Farm House
Where Ichabod Crane Lived
The current owner and
occupant of Merwin Cottage
is the actress Esther Leeming
Tuttle, known to all as “Faity,”
who has appeared on
Broadway and in television.
She and her husband purchased the white frame
Merwin farmhouse in 1941.
Since that time, they have
acquired other adjacent lands
so that the current Tuttle
property, on which she and
members of her family now
have homes, is about the size
of the two farms owned and
operated by the two Merwin
brothers in the mid 1800’s.
The property also encompasses Merwin Lake and
several smaller ponds. Faity’s
reminiscences regarding the
cottage and its visitors are the
basis for this article.
As Faity tells it, Martin Van
Buren, when he resided at
Lindenwald, used to visit
Merwin Cottage routinely to
talk to Jesse Merwin’s wife’s
mother, who was the matriarch of the Van Dyck family.
He enjoyed conversing with
her as she spoke Holland
Dutch, whereas most of the
Dutch families in Kinderhook
spoke American Dutch.
Therefore, he would ride over master who taught in
to Merwin Cottage and talk Kinderhook as a young man
with her while she sat in her and who later was a farmer
cupboard bed. These beds residing at the cottage, was
were usually located in the the model for Ichabod Crane
center of a Dutch house in Washington Irving’s The
where it was warmest and Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In
were generally occupied by addition to Merwin, other resthe eldest in the family. The idents of Kinderhook at the
location of this cupboard time were supposedly used
bed is still evident in Merwin by Irving as inspiration for
Cottage.
other characters in the story,
After their conversai.e. Abram Van Alstyne
tion,Van Buren would
(Brom Bones), Helena
often leave in the
Van Alen (Katerina
heat of the day.
Van Tassel) and
Before leaving,
Helena’s father
however,
he
(Baltus Van Taswould pick a
sel). For those
leaf from one
interested,
of the cabbage
there is a small
heads growing
book that covon the farm
ers this in
and place it on
detail.1
Jesse Merwin, from an
There can be
the top of his
from Collier’s
no
doubt that
head before put- old photo
History of Old
Kinderhook,
Washington Irving
ting on his hat. As
1914
had visited Kinderhe was bald, this
hook as a young man and
helped keep his head cool
became a friend of Jesse
on the way home.
Much has been written Merwin. According to Faity,
and debated over whether or Irving welcomed the companot Jesse Merwin, a school- ny of Merwin who was an
Merwin Cottage as depicted in Collier’s History of Old Kinderhook,
1914.
11
educated man and was then
the schoolmaster at what is
now known as the Ichabod
Crane schoolhouse, currently
maintained by the Columbia
County Historical Society.
In a letter to Jesse Merwin
dated February 12,1851,
Irving, among other things,
reminisces about their fishing
experiences on Merwin Lake
as young men during one of
which “…we made up for our
own bad luck in fishing by
plundering (Congressman
Van Alen’s) canoe of its fish
when we found it adrift…” In
the same letter he also recalls
the Ichabod Crane schoolhouse.“…I should have liked
to see the old school house
once more, where after my
morning’s literary task was
over, I used to come and wait
for you occasionally until
school was dismissed: and you
used to promise to keep back
the punishment of some little
tough broad-bottomed dutch
boy until I should come, for
my amusement — but never
kept your promise…” 2
A typewritten copy of this
1851 letter is taped to the
back of a framed copy of a
letter from representatives
of the M.E. Church in
Kinderhook dated May 19,
1846 to persons in New York
City, which hangs in the hallway of the cottage. The
framed letter is offering the
services of Jesse Merwin to
“…come down to your city
for the purpose of collecting
money for said Church by lecturing on Temperance at the
Tabernacle or at such place
or places as you may think
proper.”At the bottom of this
letter is a certification by
Continued on page 15
Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
News of the Columbia County Historical Society
beginning and end. Teacher
questionnaires, student interest questionnaires, and preand post-questionnaires will
be used to assess what students learned from the kit.
Unwrapping the
History Box
Education has always
enjoyed a top-priority
position at the Columbia
County Historical Society.
And now,under the very capable leadership of Educator
Ruth Ellen Berninger, CCHS
has taken a leading role in a
five member collaborative
effort to prepare and provide
a “History Box” of primary
source materials for educational purposes.
The “History Box” will
incorporate state-of-the-art
educational kits, comprising a
shared wealth of combined
historical materials in user
friendly format. The program
will initially target middle
school children in Columbia
County’s six school districts.
The “History Box” will
eventually provide teachers
with kits on many subjects
and target many different
audiences at varied levels.
Students may use the box to
explore social studies, language arts, visual arts, math
and science through handson, flexible, document-based
local and U.S. history that is
relevant to their own lives
and experience.
“Agriculture and Land Use
in the 19th Century” was
chosen as the first theme. It is
a common theme for all
school district sites and one
that is addressed in the 7th
and 8th grade social studies
syllabus. Activities will include those that are object
based, using reproductions
from our collections, music
and dance ,historical and analytical activities and a time-
line puzzle. Each of the kits
will be similar with potential
for widespread use and application following the pilot
stage.
The middle school levels
provide a unique opportunity
to capture an audience which
is not afraid to play game-like
activities, and one that has
developed the cognitive ability to understand history and
historical research. Each district will provide one teacher
advisor, one student advisor
and receive one pilot kit to
evaluate. Advisors will be
from each of the educational
disciplines.The kit, consisting
of a CD-ROM, reproduction
objects, archival materials
from site collections, student
activities and teacher materials, will use up-to-date technology to make the kit transportable. There is the potential for a much broader application with the possibility of
linkage to the various sites’
websites.
The planning stage for this
program was facilitated by
consultant Anne Ackerson
and a grant awarded by the
Upstate History Alliance.
Music for the pilot will be
performed by Bob Lusk,
Melissa Orquist, and Mary
Ann Schatzel allowing an
opportunity for the students
to create and perform their
own music as well. John
Benedict from Berkshire
Marketing Group, Troy, New
York will create the pilot CD.
Martin Sorin, Phd., has agreed
to evaluate the program,
using a focus group at the
At this stage the forum is
currently seeking funds to
produce the pilot and evaluate the kit. Mission Statement
of the Columbia County Educators Forum
We are a supportive dynamic team of museum and historic
site professionals who work collaboratively towards two
goals: 1: instill a passion for history by engaging a broad
audience in community history and heritage and 2: inspire
communities to advocate and sustain a shared heritage.
Current members, in addition to CCHS Educator Ruth
Ellen Berninger, are Heidi Hill, Museum Educator at
Clermont State Historic Site, James McKay, Chief Ranger at
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, Geraldine Weidel,
Historic Site Assistant at Olana State Historic Site, and
Starlyn D’Angelo, Curator at the Shaker Museum and
Library. Also on the committee is Patricia West, PhD.,
author and adjunct professor at SUNY Albany.
RECENT GIFTS TO
THE SOCIETY
ince our last issue of this
publication, the Columbia
County Historical Society
has been the recipient of the
following grants:
The National Endowment
for the Humanities Preservation
Assistance Grant Program has
announced a $4,213 grant
award for a survey of environmental conditions and collections storage in the museum
building.
$2,500 was received from
the J. M. Kaplan Fund, which
gift was authorized by its
President Emeritus and
Trustee, Joan K. Davidson.
This operational grant is to be
used to support the Society’s
efforts in the preservation of
the history and culture of
Columbia County.
The Society was also
awarded $1,500 by the
Hudson River Bank & Trust
S
12
Foundation on behalf of
the Arthur & Marie Hegarty
Foundation. This gift is to be
used in our new development
efforts to maintain and preserve our historic structures
and was authorized by Carl A.
Florio, President of the bank.
The Berkshire Taconic
Community Foundation has
awarded the Society $1,500
to be used to support our
educational efforts.
Stewart’s has given the
Society $1,000 to help defray
the cost of the Society’s
program, “Museums in the
Classroom”.
The Society is most appreciative of these and all of the
donations that it receives
from entities such as the
above and from the community in general. These help
ensure that the Society can
continue to provide the kind
and level of services that it
has in the past. Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
News of the Columbia County Historical Society
THE SOCIETY
NEEDS YOU
The Columbia County Historical Society
depends upon volunteers to help it in its many
endeavors. We are seeking individuals with experience and interest in any of the following areas to
contact the Society and volunteer their time and
effort. Don’t hesitate to contact us even if you think
that your background is not suitable. We can
explore with you our needs and your interests to
determine how best you can help us.
If you are skilled in typing and/or inputting
materials into computers, you could help us manage
and catalogue our collection. Museum or archival
experience would be helpful. Please call Helen
McLallen, Curator, at 758-9265. She will be happy to
discuss in more detail the type of assistance needed
and what is required.
We need people who have an interest in either
writing or presenting educational programs to help
the staff Educator in this important outreach
effort. If you have an interest in developing such
programs or working with students, please contact
Ruth Ellen Berninger, Educator, at 758-9265.
Finally, the Society can use help handling a wide
variety of tasks in its library and office at the
Museum in Kinderhook. If you would like to assist
us in these areas, please call Sharon Palmer,
Executive Director, at the telephone number
shown above.
Invitation to a Hanging
“You are invited to be present at the execution of the sentence
of death upon Oscar F. Beckwith, at the jail of the County of
Columbia, on the first day of March, 1888, at 10 o’clock A.M.
[Signed by the Sheriff of Columbia County and dated February 27,
1888.”]
More on the trials, tribulations and hanging of Mr. Beckwith, often
referred to as the “Cannibal of Austerlitz,” will appear in upcoming
issues of Columbia County History & Heritage. Copy of the original
invitation courtesy Dick Cartwright.
Columbia County History & Heritage is interested
in hearing from you — if you have articles, pictures, or
other items about Columbia County history and cultural
heritage suitable for publication, please let us know.
The Editorial Board will review all submissions, and all
submissions considered for publication are subject to
editing.We regret that we cannot guarantee publication.
Want to advertise your business in Columbia
County History & Heritage? Call 518-758-9265
for more information.
13
Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
Society Announces Reciprocal Privileges
For Patron Members
By Steve Mandel
uring
2002
the
Society has launched
an ongoing program
of enhancing the benefits of
membership. Key ingredients
of this program are the
recently negotiated reciprocity agreements with a number
of sister institutions.
Members at the Patron
($100) or higher level are
now entitled to reciprocal
privileges at five such institutions.These privileges include
free admission to their historic sites and museums and a
10% discount in their museum shops. To access these
privileges our members simply present their CCHS
Patron or higher membership
card when visiting.
The institutions are the
Albany Institute of History
and Art, the Berkshire Historical Society, Historic
Cherry Hill, the Huguenot
Historical Society and the
Rensselaer County Historical
Society.
The Albany Institute of
History and Art founded in
1791 and with a stunning
modern addition just completed, is home to over five
centuries of art and culture of
the Upper Hudson Valley
D
Pat & Larry
region and is famous for its
significant Hudson River
School paintings. The broad
scope of its collections
includes fine arts, 19th century sculpture, furnishings, personal and societal objects,
documents, manuscripts, photographs and personal papers. The Institute is located
at 125 Washington Avenue in
Albany, phone 518 463-4478.
The Berkshire Historical
Society owns and operates
Arrowhead, the 18th century
farmhouse where Herman
Melville lived, farmed and
wrote many of his most
famous works, including the
completion of his masterpiece Moby-Dick. The 44 acre
property preserves the views
that inspired Melville and
includes a nature trail and a
museum shop. Arrowhead, a
National Historic Landmark,
is located at 780 Holmes
Road, Pittsfield, MA, phone
413-442-1793.
Historic Cherry Hill is
an imposing gambrel roofed
Georgian style house built in
1787 by Philip Van Rensselaer
as the centerpiece of a 900
acre farm. The house remained in the same family for
five generations, until 1963
when it became a museum
showing the change and continuity of 176 years of one
family’s life there. Historic
Cherry Hill is at 523 1/2 South
Pearl Street in Albany, phone
518 434-4791.
The Huguenot Historical
Society has preserved, protected and interpreted the
structures of Huguenot Street
in New Paltz, a National
Historic Landmark District
containing six stone houses,
the earliest dating to c. 1680.
The houses, furnished with
period antiques, interpret
over 300 years of a community’s settlement. The houses
are open for tours; there are
picnic areas and a museum
shop. Tours begin at DuBois
Fort on Huguenot Street
in New Paltz, NY, phone
845-255-1660.
The Rennselaer County
Historical Society owns the
elegant 1827 Federal-style
Hart-Cluett mansion in downtown Troy, maintained with
period furnishings and an
outstanding collection of
American fine and decorative
arts. In the adjacent Carr
Building are a museum with
exhibition galleries, research
library and museum shop.
The Rensselaer County Historical Society is located at 57
Phone (518) 766-3008
Fax (518) 766-9818
4228 Route 203 Post Office Box 219
North Chatham, NY 12132
14
Second Street in Troy, NY,
phone 518 272-7232.
In another aspect of the
reciprocity program, members at the Benefactor ($500)
level or higher are being
offered a “behind the scenes”
Director’s or Curator’s tour of
a Society property or a neighboring historic site or museum belonging to one of these
sister institutions. The tour
will be held at a different
location each year.
In negotiating these reciprocal privileges the Board of
the Society was guided by
two thoughts. One was the
desire to create more benefits
for our membership. The
other was the conviction that
it is “a good thing all around”
to introduce our members to
the riches offered by these
neighboring institutions and
to introduce our neighbors to
the riches of the Columbia
County Historical Society. Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
“Tales from Merwin”
…continued from page 11
Book Review:
Martin Van Buren to the fact
that Jesse Merwin is in fact
Ichabod Crane. Van Buren
writes:“This is to certify that
I have known Jesse Merwin,
Esq. for about 1/3 of a century and believe him to be a
man of honor and integrity,
and that he is the same person celebrated in the writings
of the Hon.Washington Irving
under the character of
Ichabod Crane in his famous
Legand of Sleepy Hollow.”
Faity also states unequivocally that the legend of the
Headless Horseman still threatens at the cottage. Originally
Jesse Merwin and his wife, the
former Jane Van Dyck, were
buried beneath simple marble
headstones in Kinderhook.
Later the Merwin family
replaced the headstones with a
monument. However, being
frugal, they did not destroy or
cast aside the headstones, but
rather transported them back
to the cottage. Jesse’s became
the flagstone for the steps leading to the front door and his
wife’s served a similar purpose
at the kitchen door.Faity recalls
that she and her husband were
advised that if they disturbed
these stones, the Headless
Horseman would ride once
again.
A FAMILY PLACE
Published by Viking
By Jim Eyre
he telling of history
takes many paths, but
seldom does one have
the unique opportunity to
vividly share the experience
of a capable and sensitive
writer as she breathes life
into the generations of her
own family, and as if in their
very own shoes, walks step
by step through time.
This is a true story of the
“ups” and “downs” and the “all
arounds” of the Van Ness/
Philip family. It is also very
much a story about “Talavera”,
their ancestral home and farm
in Claverack, New York. Most
of all, it is a story about devotion to family, to home, to
country, to honour and to
hard work.
T
Fall 2002
It is a history taken from
real life, hidden closet papers,
attic boxes, journals and
family records at Talavera as
well as at the New York Historical and Columbia County
Historical Societies. One also
hears from friends and other
sources, far and wide, who
have known the touch of this
strong family. Leila Philip has
spent four years of research
and travel unraveling the
threads of her geneology and
has made some startling discoveries along the way.
“A Family Place” is a well
composed and excellent read.
Though true, it has the ring
and the magic of an intriguing
historical novel. It may be
purchased at the Columbia
County Historical Society
Museum in Kinderhook, N.Y.
(with a 10% discount offered to
members) and
at other bookstores nationwide. However, curiosity got the
better of Faity. One day she
instructed a handyman to
turn over Jesse’s tombstone
to see what the inscription
on it was. The handyman did
what he was told. That night
lightening struck one of the
two maple trees planted just
in front of the entrance to the
house and split it in two.
Since that time, Faity has
never allowed anyone to
touch either stone, not wanting the responsibility for the
return of the Headless Horseman once again. (Recall that
in Irving’s tale, the Headless
Horseman hurled his head at
Ichabod Crane at the end of
the ride, striking him. After
that, Ichabod was seen no
more.) 3
This is but one of the
homes throughout Columbia
County that has a story to tell.
It is always fascinating to see
how many sites around our
county played a role in the
lives of important personages
and added their own small
piece of history to this area.
Our thanks to Faity for sharing her memories about
Merwin Cottage and making
this interesting place come
alive for us. 1. Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, President
Van Buren and Brom by E.R.Welles, III and J.P. Evans
2.The letter is contained in Washington Irving, Letters,
Volume IV, 1846-1859 edited by Ralph M. Alderman,
Herbert L Klienfeld and Jenifer S. Banks which is available at the library at the Columbia County Historical
Society’s Museum in Kinderhook.
3.The story about the gravestones is also set forth in
the book Ghosts in Residence by H.A. von Behr, which
contains a number of stories of ghosts in Columbia
County.
15
Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
History Around the County
By Julia Philip
AUSTERLITZ
HISTORIC AL
SOCIETY
he Austerlitz Historical
Society will hold its
autumn festival on
Saturday, September 28th, to
celebrate completion of
exterior work on the
Morey-Devereaux House, the
Society’s central building of
“Old Austerlitz Historic Site.”
The framing of this massive three-story building was
raised this summer and will
be weather-secured before
winter comes. The Society
will use the Morey-Devereaux
House as a museum for its
collection of early 18th century furniture and artifacts
and as a center for lectures
and receptions. The reconstruction of two massive
chimneys at both ends of the
building is the next challenge
T
upper floors had been built
into a warren of small rooms.
Later, in the mid-1920’s, the
entire building was used as a
grain storage and sales center.
The foundation for the
new Morey-Devereaux House
has been constructed of
cement and faced with fieldstone by Dan Rundell, a stone
mason from Spencertown.
Massive 12 square foot foundations were built at both
ends of the basement to support the four fireplaces.
These are not made of hand
layed brick, as were the
original foundations, but are
poured cement. The MoreyDevereaux House comes
with all its essential structural
beams and much of the ornamental woodwork. Exterior
siding will be replicated.
The reconstruction will be
done by John Borotta of West
Stockbridge.
The Austerlitz Historical
Society has engaged Marilyn
Kaplan,
of
Preservation
Architects in Valatie, to see the
reconstruction through the
many regulations of State
Office of Environmental
Protection
and
Historic
Preservation.
Robert Herron, whose family has lived at Austerlitz since
before the Society. The project alone is expected to cost
over $40,000.
The
Morey-Devereaux
House, which stood originally
on Burden Lake in Nassau
County was given to the
Society by Thomas Henson
and was dismantled and transported to Austerlitz in numbered pieces under the supervision of J. Walter Kelley, an
historic preservationist. This
building, very large for its
time, was constructed around
double fireplaces at each end
of the 48-foot structure. One
ends had a beehive oven,
which suggested that it was
the living area of the family.
The rest of the large structure
was a work space — the earliest use was as a tannery —
with the upper floor and attic
used for storage.
The lower floor was devoted entirely to living quarters
by 1820. By the 1850’s it was
a tavern and hostelry and the
1830, has donated 55 acres
and three of the houses to the
historic site. One of the first
of these houses built in what
is now Austerlitz was the
Sauer House constructed in
1785. This building was
moved from a nearby site on
Route 22 by Robert Herron in
1970 and became the starting
point of an ambitious plan to
recreate the historic village of
“Old Austerlitz.” Another, The
Kellog House, which dates
from 1790, was added in
1993. These houses both have
Connecticut-style central chimneys and inner wall construction, which reinforces the history of settlement from the
east for the Austerlitz valley.
The third, The Varney
House, the original house on
the property, has been owned
by Mr. Herron’s family since
1839. This house has been
deeded to the Austerlitz
Historical Society as its headquarters and operational center. It contains a large meeting
space but will also be the center of weaving and spinning
in the future historic village.
Two other buildings have
been moved to the site —
first is the Harvey House,
which came from East
Canaan, CT, and the second,
Continued on page 19
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN of
the OLD AUSTERLITZ HISTORIC SITE
The Morey-Deveraux House, currently under restoration.
16
Columbia County History & Heritage
Spring 2002
History Around the County
HISTORIC
STUYVESANT DAYS
By Juanita Knott,
Stuyvesant Town Historian
ormerly known as
Kinderhook Landing,
Stuyvesant became a
separate township in 1823.
In 1993 the Town of
Stuyvesant received designation as a model community of
the Hudson River Valley
Greenway
Communities
Council. The Town Board
appointed a 16 member local
Greenway Committee to
begin developing a comprehensive plan for the town
which would include, among
other criteria, natural and
cultural resources protection
along with environmental
and heritage education.
The need to inform town
residents and visitors of historic resources, to teach
young and old the value of
protecting the town’s history,
and to celebrate the community were frequent assessments made during discussions at the comprehensive
planning meetings.
Combining
education,
knowledge, and celebration
led to the annual community
F
LIVINGSTON
HISTORY B ARN
By Mary Howell,
edited by Julia Philp
feature
of
the
Livingston
History
Barn is this early
Burden Iron Mine ore cart
that was salvaged and set up
this summer behind the Town
Hall at Livingston. The rich
iron mines operated from
colonial days until 1890 at Mt.
Tom above the Bartolotta
Orchards on County Route
10. When the mines closed,
this cart eventually became
the property of Stickles Cider
Mill at Blue Stores and was
A
event known as Historic
Stuyvesant Day. Each year a
different aspect of the town’s
history is chosen. Historical
artifacts and photos are
exhibited, an information fact
sheet or brochure is prepared, related children’s activities are planned, and the
town supplies hot dogs and
beverages. Invitations ask participants to “bring a covered
dish to share, along with a
chair or blanket, and meet
your neighbors at a chosen
site for an annual picnic”.
The first annual Historic
Stuyvesant Day was held in
1994 and celebrated the
recently restored iron truss
bridge spanning the Kinderhook Creek at Stuyvesant Falls.
Successive years have celebrated the ice harvesting industry,
the Stuyvesant Depot, mercantile and manufacturing along
Riverview Street (landing
area), the 175th anniversary
of the township, the 100th
anniversary of the Stuyvesant
Falls bridge, the town’s agricultural history, the town schools
before centralization, the history of the hotels in Stuyvesant,
and, this past summer, the
town’s barns and silos.
Article reprinted courtesy of The Independent.
used to haul the pomace from
the pressed apples down
crude tracks to a dump
where farmers would come
to pick up the apple residue
for cattle food.
Charles
Schneider, a
nephew of Harold Stickles,
bought the cart and last year
donated it to the Town of
Livingston. Mary Howell,
county historian and Livingston History Barn originator,
called on volunteers; George
Cook of Valatie; David Fingar,
a member of the Livingston
Town Board; Dale Flansburg, a
railroad buff from Germantown; and members of the
17
The success of this community event has been evident from the number of “old
timer interviews” that have
been documented, the historic photos that have surfaced and been donated to
the town, the knowledge that
our youth have gained about
their community, and the participation of neighbors at the
great picnics! Livingston Highway Department who refurbished the
ore cart and set up the short
line of ties and track on
which the cart now rests at
the entrance of the new
LivingstonHistory Barn. One
of the iron spikes that hold
the rails to the tracks is from
the original tracks at the
Burden Mines. Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
Highlights from the Society’s Collections
By Helen M. McLallen,
Curator
Columbia County Historical Society
face. Another recent gift relating to the
pump company came in 2001 from
Nellie and Joseph Ptaszek. Along with
mong the many products that
several billheads, receipts, a contract
were manufactured in Columbia
form for agents, and a c1919 advertising
County was “The Blue Pump
brochure, the Ptaszeks donated an
with the Black Handle.” That was the
account book which lists pumps and
slogan Robert Hoes used to describe
repairs sold between 1872 and 1919.
the wooden hand pumps that were first
While the model or parts purchased
manufactured by Augustus and Parson
were not enumerated, the purchasers’
Thayer about 1837 in Malden Bridge.
names, addresses, and amount of the
After Parson’s death in 1850, Augustus
sale were given, as well as the agent’s
sold the business to William C. Herrick
name and whether the pump was paid
and Robert Hoes, with Hoes becoming
for or removed. Apparently many sales
the sole owner in 1873.
were made on approval. The account
The company made two models.
book gives an excellent picture of how
The larger “Thayer’s Columbian Pump”
widespread the pumps were used. Also
was designed for wells from five to fifty
in the Society’s collection are several
feet deep. It sold in the early 20th cenphotographs of the pump factory,
tury for $22.50, while a smaller model,
including two given by Sterling
“The Young America,” for shallow wells
Rivenburgh.
and cisterns, cost $15.00. The
In the 1980s much of the factory’s
Columbian could also be adapted for
contents, including many of the tools
indoor installation, with lead or galvaand pump parts, were acquired by the
nized iron pipe connecting it to the
New York State Museum. Several of
well.“Just think what this will mean in
these items were borrowed by the
the winter time,” a c1919 ad stated.
Columbia County Historical Society for
Most of the pumps were sold regionits 1999 exhibit on local industries.
Advertisement, Robert Hoes Company, c1919.
ally by agents covering eastern New Gift of Nellie and Joseph Ptaszek, 2001.25.
The Society’s pump will soon be
York and western New England, or purplaced on display at the Albany Airport.
chased directly from the Hoes’ factory in Malden Bridge. Sharon Palmer, the Society’s Executive Director, has chosen it
A few pumps were sold to customers further afield. Hoes as the Society’s contribution to Show Off: Museum Directors
incorporated the Robert Hoes Company in 1918, and his fami- Select from their Collections. Single objects representing the
ly remained connected with the business until 1924, when the collections of over fifty area museums will be combined to
patents and rights were sold.
highlight the richness and diversity of the Capital Region’s
The Society received the gift of a Hoes Columbian pump in museum community. The exhibit is being organized by the
excellent condition in 2000. Donated by Alexander Mintcheff, airport’s Art and Culture Program and will be held in their
the pump apparently was never installed and still includes two main gallery from September 30, 2002, to February 16, 2003. lengths of wooden pipe.When attached to the pump the pipe
would draw water from about seventeen feet below the sur-
A
Malden Bridge pump shop, c1900. Photo by John Biser.
Gift of Sterling Rivenburgh, 1987[.20.119].
18
Columbia County Histor y & Heritage
Fall 2002
Columbia County Historical Society Calendar of Events
Please note in your calendars
the following events and dates.
For additional information
regarding these, please call
the Society’s office at (518)
758-9265 or visit our website
at www.cchsny.org.
“Museum Peace:
Reflections on a Collection”
Currently to November 23
The Society is featuring an exhibit, entitled “Museum
Peace: Reflections on a Collection,” by Fern T. Apfel at
the Columbia County Museum, 5 Albany Avenue,
Kinderhook, NY. This exhibition is funded in part by
the Decentralization Program of the New York State
Council on the Arts. Ms. Apfel is a visual artist, currently
working in ink and collage. Her works of art are derived
from approximately 30 items in the Society’s collection,
which items are also on display so that visitors can see
what inspired the artist and be better able to understand
her motivation in the creation of her work.
The hours are 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Monday,
Wednesday and Friday and from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
on Saturday. Admission is free to the public. Donations
are welcome.
September 15
The Society, along with the
Greenport Historical Society
will sponsor a Monthie slide
presentation at 3:00 p.m., at
the Greenport Town Hall.
These slides will feature
Greenport, Part 1. Admission
is free to the public.
September 21
Collector’s Day will be held at
the Vanderpoel House, 16
Broad Street, in Kinderhook
from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00
p.m. Do not miss this unique
opportunity to view personal
collections from in and
around Columbia County and
to discuss these with the
owners. Among the collections to be exhibited will be
miniature rooms, dollhouses,
Mohican Indian artifacts,
locks, corkscrews, antique
clocks, antique automobiles,
18th century weapons, bears,
china, Victorian valentines,
trains and much more.
Admission will be $3.50 for
adults and $1.00 for children.
Everyone is welcome.
Fern T. Apfel’s Study, teacup. The exhibit continues through
November 23rd.
Austerlitz continued from page 16
the Granary, which came
from Stillwater, NY. Both
buildings, broken down
before transfer into numbered beams, have been
erected with volunteer help
but are not yet ready to fill
the role they have been
assigned as farm workshops.
The ambitious plans for
“Old Austerlitz”can be seen on
the map on page 16. The
Morey-Devereaux House will
19
October 6
The Society, along with the
Greenport Historical Society
will sponsor a Monthie slide
presentation at 3:00 p.m., at
the Greenport Town Hall.
These slides will feature
Greenport, Part 2. Admission
is free to the public.
October 12
Meet author, Roderic H.
Blackburn, and photographer,
Geoffrey Gross, at a booksigning of their newly-published
Dutch Colonial Homes in
America. 2:00 p.m. at the
Hudson Opera House, 327
Warren St., Hudson, NY, as
part of Arts Walk weekend.
Books will be available at the
signing.
October 19
The
Columbia
County
Historical Society will hold its
Annual Meeting at 10:00 a.m.
at the Columbia County
Museum, 5 Albany Avenue,
Kinderhook, NY. At this
meeting the Society will present its annual Heritage
Preservation Awards to organizations and persons who
have made a significant contribution to preserving the
heritage of Columbia County.
Also, the Society will award a
$1,000 scholarship to a high
Continued on back page
stand at the head of a country
road
where
the “Old
Austerlitz” village will be
assembled — first the Harvey
House which will be used for
changing exhibitions, then
the wood working barns with
an orchard of old apple varieties behind them. Clustered
along the road past a kitchen
garden will be buildings for a
tinsmith, blacksmith, a cooper
and a wheelwright. Columbia County Historical Society
www.cchsny.org
Columbia County Historical Society Calendar of Events continued
school student exhibiting
exceptional interest in the
study of local and regional
history. Refreshments will
follow the presentation.
Everyone is welcome.
December 7
to December 15
The annual Gallery of
Wreaths will be on display at
the Columbia County Museum, 5 Albany Avenue,
Kinderhook. The hours will
be 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on
weekdays and from Noon till
4:00 p.m.on Sunday. This
show will feature a silent auction of wreaths for the holidays created by individuals,
businesses, organizations, and
florists. Also, there will
be a Holiday Crafts Boutique
with hand made crafts for
sale. Admission is free to
the public.
December 13
The James Vanderpoel House
will be open and decorated
for the holidays as part of
Candlelight Night in the
Village of Kinderhook sponsored by the Kinderhook
Business and Professional
Association. The hours will
be from 6:00 p.m. until 8:30
p.m. Visit the Vanderpoel
House, stroll around the village, and sample refreshments offered by various
businesses, listen to music,
take wagon rides and have
your children visit Santa
Claus. The streets will have
festive luminaries to light
the way.
NY will feature the house
decorated for the holidays
with floral decorations by
five county garden clubs and
the Rosery Flower Shop. The
hours will be from Noon to
8:30 p.m. on Friday, from
10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on
Saturday, and from Noon
to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission is free to the public. Donations are welcome.
Also, as part of this festive
week, the Society will be
sponsoring a walking tour of
houses in Kinderhook which
have been dressed up for the
holidays. Details are currently
being worked out and will be
made available in the future. December 13
to December 15
The Greens Show at the
James Vanderpoel House,
16 Broad Street, Kinderhook,
The James Vanderpoel House in Kinderhook
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 12
Kinderhook, NY
5 Albany Ave., Kinderhook, NY 12106
Columbia County
HISTORY HERITAGE
&
For updated information about events and other activites of the
Columbia County Historical Society, please visit our website at www.cchsny.org